Global Marketing

Semester Project

Strategic Market Assessment, Analysis and Marketing

Gul Ahmed launch in Abu Dhabi

Presented by:

Rohan Ahmed

Numair Imran

Junaid Ahmed

Asker Zaidi

Tauqeer Qaiser

Mehdi Jawa

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Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 4

Product& Market .......................................................................................................................................... 4

Financial and Economic Screening ............................................................................................................... 5

Political and legal screening ......................................................................................................................... 7

Type of government in U.A.E ................................................................................................................... 7

Entry barriers ............................................................................................................................................ 7

Profit transfer barriers ............................................................................................................................... 7

Political risk .............................................................................................................................................. 8

Socio-cultural Screening ............................................................................................................................. 10

Demographic data ................................................................................................................................... 10

Religion and Social Structure ................................................................................................................. 10

Product relevance .................................................................................................................................... 10

Competitive Screening ................................................................................................................................ 12

Competitors Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 12

Nishat .................................................................................................................................................. 12

Bareeze/Kayseria ................................................................................................................................ 12

Sana Safinaz ........................................................................................................................................ 13

Seasonal exhibitions of Designer fabric .............................................................................................. 13

Others .................................................................................................................................................. 14

Marketing strategies of the competitors .................................................................................................. 14

Marketing: ................................................................................................................................................... 16

Integrated Solutions: ................................................................................................................................... 16

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Deepening the Relationships ....................................................................................................................... 16

Controlling the Budget ................................................................................................................................ 17

PROMOTION ............................................................................................................................................. 17

Major newspapers: ...................................................................................................................................... 17

TV channels: ............................................................................................................................................... 17

Radio channels: ........................................................................................................................................... 18

Outdoor Advertising: .................................................................................................................................. 18

Outdoor advertising media: ......................................................................................................................... 18

Mobile billboard advertising: ...................................................................................................................... 19

Advertising by Dubai city guide (a cyber gear e-channel): ........................................................................ 20

Vital Statistics - Date range: October 2010 ................................................................................................ 21

Banner Advertising ..................................................................................................................................... 22

CPM (Cost per thousand impressions) rates for Banners ....................................................................... 22

CPM (Cost per thousand impressions) rates for Email Campaigns ......................................................... 22

Strategy ....................................................................................................................................................... 23

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 24

References ................................................................................................................................................... 25

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Introduction

The story of textiles in the subcontinent is the story of Gul Ahmed. The group began trading in

textiles in the early 1900’s. With all its know-how and experience, the group decided to enter the

field of manufacturing and Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Ltd. was incorporated as a private limited

company, in the year 1953. In 1972 it was subsequently listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange.

Since then the company has been making rapid progress and is one of the best composite textile

houses in the world. The mill is presently a composite unit with an installed capacity of 130,296

spindles, 223 wide width air jet looms, and a state of the art processing and finishing unit.

Product& Market

Unstitched fabrics are what we will be exporting to Abu Dhabi and our clients will initially

consist of end consumers. We hope to reach our target market through direct representation

which will be accomplished by opening a franchise of Gul Ahmed Exclusive Store in the Abu

Dhabi Mall which is one of the largest malls in Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi Mall's shops include

children's, women's and men's fashion stores, make-up and perfume, music, soft-furnishings,

household furniture, electrical goods, gifts, health-food, pharmacies, confectionery, dates,

sportswear, books and stationery including the grocer Abu Dhabi Co-op.

Since the weather in Abu Dhabi is mostly hot and arid, with very short periods of cool weather,

our range of unstitched fabrics has the potential to become quite successful in this market.

Moreover, the majority of the inhabitants of Abu Dhabi are expatriate workers from countries

like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka among others, for whom unstitched fabric (lawn,

cotton), and especially by a renowned brand such as Gul Ahmed would be nothing less than a

treat.

As the proceeding data and research will show, taking Gul Ahmed to Abu Dhabi, will prove to

be quite beneficial for the brand in terms of sales and expansion.

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Financial and Economic Screening

Abu Dhabi experiences a rapidly growing economy with a high GDP and per capita income. It is

not only the wealthiest emirate of UAE but also qualifies as one of the wealthiest cities in the

world.Abu Dhabi’s GDP per capita income also nearly touched the $70,000 mark which is far

above the average income of the United Arab Emirates itself and it ranks third in the world after

Luxembourg and Norway.

The apparel industry in Abu Dhabi mushroomed during the second half of 1980’s. There was no

appreciable increase in 1990’s. In fact some countries closed down due to the quota exhaustion.

By the time the quota system was abolished in 2005, this is industry is too well established now.

It is considered to be the second largest manufacturing industry in UAE and constitutes about

155 of the non-oil industrial exports. The banks are usually happy to provide this industry with

finances

The key growth drivers of this industry are mainly corporate efforts, government support, and

recognition of foreign and local designers and lastly the awareness of fashion brands. The

government supports the apparel industry by organizing fashion events to promote tourism.

Large events, such as DSS Dubai Fashion Fiesta, DSS Kids Fashion Week, etc., were part of the

government supported large tourist programs in 2008. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and

Industry also supports the fashion industry and has brought many leading international fashion

houses to Dubai. The Dubai and Sharjah governments are assisting this sector by sponsoring

exhibitions, which attract many international textile and apparel manufacturers. The Middle East

Fashion Textile, Leather and Accessories Exhibition (MOTEXHA 2006), the Middle East

region's largest trade show for garments, textiles, leather and fashion accessories was inaugurated

in April 2006.

There are several underlying factors behind the Emirate’s attractive investment climate in the

apparel industry, including a strategic geographic location, highly developed infrastructure, the

miscellaneous facilities offered by the Emirate’s free zones and industrial cities, very low tax,

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easy access to energy sources and credit facilities etc. Investment statistics for 2010 show that

the total number of registered textile business reached 96,381, of which 10.4% were newly

licensed businesses, compared with 86,402 businesses in 2009 of which 14.7% were licensed

during the same year. There are huge opportunities for Abu Dhabi to enhance the industry by

attracting more foreign investments, improve the value added in the local economy and increase

non-oil exports.

Based on analysis of Central Bank information, the textile and apparel sector comprised an

estimated 5.73 billion USD, which makes up 6 percent of the UAE non-oil economy. In 2009,

the total industrial production in the UAE was 75.6 billion USD. The total manufacturing

industrial production was 16.6 billion USD, which comprised 21.96 percent of the total industrial

sector, according to the Ministry of Economy's statistics. In 2010, textiles and apparel comprised

5.6 percent of the UAE's imports, 5 percent of its non-oil exports, and 7.3 percent of the

country's re-exports, based on estimated data by the UAE Central Bank. In 2010, the UAE

exports in textile and apparel to the U.S. comprised 67.86 million USD, according to the Dubai

Chamber of Commerce's economic bulletin published in May 2010.

Officials from textile factories noted that they are optimistic about the future of the textile

industry in the UAE. They said the UAE textile industry is able to compete with US and Europe

because of a lower cost of inputs in the UAE in comparison with these countries, particularly the

cost of labor, electricity, water and oil.

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Political and legal screening

Type of government in U.A.E

The government of U.A.E is constitutional and Emirate in nature. Emirate is similar to a

monarchy or sultanate. The emir may be an absolute overlord or a sovereign with

constitutionally limited authority. Administratively, U.A.E. is a loose federation of seven

emirates, each with its own ruler. The UAE constitution established a government that includes a

President, Vice President, Council of Ministers, Federal Supreme Council, and a 40-member

Federal National Council.

Entry barriers

Amount of foreign ownership: Under UAE law, foreign investors are allowed to own up to 49

percent of a company. Companies in free zones can have up to 100% foreign ownership.

Technological transfer requirements: Abu Dhabi will focus on developing technology transfer

between the regions and leading global educational institutions for the next 5+ years.

Profit transfer barriers

Limitation of foreign investments: Currently, there are four major laws affecting foreign

investment in the UAE: the Federal Companies Law, the Commercial Agencies Law, the Federal

Industry Law, and the Government Tenders Law. These laws, especially the Federal Companies

Law, are seen as the largest obstacles to foreign direct investment in the UAE.

Repatriation of profit: U.A.E laws place no restriction on repatriation of capital and profits.

Availability of foreign exchange: The UAE’s monetary is the dirham (AED), which is divided

into 100 fils. Dirham notes come in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 denominations, while

coins come in AED 1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.10 and 0.05. The dirham is pegged to the US Dollar at the

official exchange rate of AED 3.6725 to every US Dollar. Money exchanges (bureau de changes)

are all over Abu Dhabi and offer rates that are often better than the banks. Many hotels will also

exchange money and travelers’ cheques at standard (non-competitive) rates.

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Political risk

Stability of country and government: The U.A.E. has no political parties. The rulers hold power

on the basis of their dynastic position and their legitimacy in a system of tribal consensus.

Rivalries exist amongst emirates and within ruling families. There have been no instances in

recent memory involving politically motivated damage to projects, or insurgencies that have

impacted the investment environment.

Role of armed forces: The UAE's armed forces organization in turn reflects the political structure

of the federation itself, where each emirate retains broad autonomy from the central government

in Abu Dhabi.

Public unrest: The UAE has not experienced political violence in the past year. Political

demonstrations are rare and must have prior approval from the UAE government. The

demonstrations which occurred previously were short in duration and peaceful.

Taxation laws: Personal income tax, capital gain tax, value-added tax, withholding tax, and

corporate tax are not applicable in the United Arab Emirates. The only companies that are

required to pay taxes are of oil, gas, petrochemical, and branches of foreign banks.

Safety conditions: Compared to similarly sized cities worldwide, Abu Dhabi’s crime rate appears

to be significantly lower.

Environmental factors: The UAE is subject to frequent sand and dust storms, which can severely

reduce visibility. The smaller islands in the Persian Gulf, as well as many coral reefs and shifting

sandbars, are a menace to navigation. Strong tides and occasional windstorms further complicate

ship movements near the shore.

Price controls: They were recently introduced on food items but not on textiles. This information

would be useful to us as using it we can evaluate law and order situation in Abu Dhabi and in

what ways they will impact our business. It also helps us in evaluating whether Abu Dhabi is a

feasible city for exports or not. For example entry barriers such as amount of ownership helps us

in evaluating that if in future we want to establish a factory or retail outlet in Abu Dhabi to what

extent would we be able to exercise our control over the business. Then technological transfer’s

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situation would help us in planning how to take advantage of technology to make our product

better, to reduce our costs by taking advantage of efficient machinery. Profit transfer barriers

help us in evaluating how much we would be able to retain, distribute and reinvest to improve

our business further. Political risks evaluation helps us by letting us know about the stability in

the country because instability in any country means lower profits. Moreover the taxation laws

help us in deciding whether to invest or not as they directly affect the amount of returns we are

left with.

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Socio-cultural Screening

Demographic data

Abu Dhabi is the largest and most inhabited region of United Arab Emirates with around 80% of

its landmass. The population of emirates as of now is approximately 1.6 million in which the

Emirati citizens make up almost 20% of the total population and rest of the 80% are expatriates

from around the world. About two-thirds of the immigrants are Asians, mostly from Pakistan,

India, Bangladesh, Iran, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the Philippines. The rest of them are from other

Arabian, European, and American regions.

Abu Dhabi has a diverse and multicultural society. The official language is Arabic but more than

a few languages are also spoken among the expatriate community. It includes a variety of

dialects of Urdu, Hindi, Persian, French and Filipino. English is also widely spoken and is

considered the language of commerce.

Religion and Social Structure

In Abu Dhabi, Islam widely dominates all aspects of life. About three fourth of the population is

Muslim where the rest of the population comprises of non-Muslims. Emirates are liberal towards

other religion but the cultural traditions are deeply rooted in Islam.

Abu Dhabi caters to the ostentatiously wealthy individuals therefore the concept of social

stratification does exist. More than a few residents of Abu Dhabi are rich and snobbish in nature.

In such a society it is easy for Gul Ahmed to enter and target this upper class segment in which

there is a constant need to puff up egos by spending on fashionable, exclusive and classy stuff.

Product relevance

Abu Dhabi has a hot arid climate where the inclination of people is more towards wearing

lightweight summer clothes. Mostly the individuals prefer to be dressed in comfortable outfits as

the climatic conditions of the city are hot and humid all over the year. Usually the dresses worn

by the majority of women and men are of material such as cotton, lawn and other similar comfy

fabrics. Gul Ahmed’s lawn is also in synchronization with the socio-cultural aspect of the region.

Its fabric suites the climatic conditions and due to the high incomes of the individuals and heavy